The group decided to eat at the restaurant one last time before setting sail when someone entered, the restaurant, “Here you guys are.” They turned around to see Kaya looking a lot better.

“Hello/Kaya.” Gohan and the others greeted.

“Should you be walking around?” Nami asked, when Kaya reached their table.

“Yes, I’m doing a lot better, my sickness was mostly caused by the shock of losing my parents, suddenly. I started getting better after Usopp befriended me.” Kaya said smiling. “Anyway, that’s not why I was looking for you, I remember you asked me for a ship.” She said, turning to Luffy.

“You’re giving us a ship!?” Luffy asked excitedly.

“Yes, and I’ll be honored if you’ll accept it.” Kaya said.

“Thank you!” Luffy said, getting up, “Let’s go see it.”

“Of course, follow me.” Kaya said laughing at Luffy’s actions.

They followed Kaya to, where a medium-sized ship was waiting for them, it was light brown, with white wooden details, curled up to simulate a sheep’s wool, it also had a sheep’s head as the figurehead. “Wow!” Luffy cried out.

“I’ve been waiting for you guys.” Merry said, after Kaya introduced them, “It’s a slightly older style, but I designed it myself. It’s a caravel that uses a staysail with the controls in the back. Her name is The Going Merry.

“Can we really have this?” Luffy asked, grinning widely.

“Yes, take it as a token of my appreciation.” Kaya said smiling at them.

“Thank you very much.” They said.

“It’s no problem.” Merry said smiling at them, “now, let me explain the steering system.” Merry said turning to Luffy.

“Wait, you should probably explain it to me.” Nami said walking up to him.

“I loaded up the ship with everything you’ll need.” Kaya said to the others, while Merry spoke with Nami.

“That’s great thank you.” Gohan said, nodding at her, as he and Zoro started unloading the supplies and treasure from the boats they came in.

“It was no problem. It was the least I could do for what you guys did.” Kaya said smiling.

Gohan was on the ship loading the supplies when he heard someone yelling, “Ahhh!!! Someone help me!” he looked up to see Usopp rolling down the slope like a snowball with a large green bag on his back. Judging by the size of the bag it looked like he took everything he could with him.

“We should probably stop him, before he hits the ship.” Zoro pointed out as Usopp seemed to be picking up more speed.

Luffy and Zoro then lifted their, foots to stop the rolling Usopp, “Thanks guys.” Usopp said voice muffled from the two feet in his face.

“Sure.” They both said, with grins.

Usopp took off the bag, and walked to stand next to Kaya, “…So, you’re really going out to sea?” Kaya asked.

“Yeah…please don’t stop me.” Usopp said as they stared out at the sea. “This is something I have to do.”

Gohan motioned for the others to give them some space, so they climbed aboard The Going Merry, giving Usopp and Kaya some space to talk alone, he noticed that Merry had done the same, “The ship is pretty good there’s enough space for me to do some actual exercises now, and maybe train a little, but I’ll have to be careful don’t want to accidently break the ship.” Gohan thought as they waited.

“I hope you guys’ have safe travels. I’m sure we’ll meet again someday.” Usopp said after he finished speaking with Kaya, he was standing next to a small boat with the large bag next to him.

“What are you talking about?” Luffy asked, leaning on the rail looking at him.

“M-man, that’s cold. The next time we meet we’ll be rival pirates.” Usopp explained.

“What are you talking about just get on board.” Zoro said, pointing at the ship.

“W-what?” Usopp exclaimed.

“I told you that you’re my new sharpshooter, didn’t I?” Luffy asked tilting his head.

“N-No, you didn’t.” Usopp said shaking his head.

“Oh, well that doesn’t matter, we’re friends now, climb aboard.” Luffy said.

“I…I’m Captain right!?” Usopp cried out, jumping in the air with his arm raised.

“Idiot, I’m the Captain!” Luffy yelled back.

Gohan jumped down, “Here let me help you with that.” He said picking up the bag with ease and jumping back on board.

“T-thanks.” Usopp said, following him.

“…U-Usopp.” Kaya said, grabbing his arm, stopping him.

“Yeah, Kaya…” Usopp asked, turning around just for Kaya to pull him down, by the collar and kiss him.

“Lady Kaya! What are you doing!?” Merry cried out.

“Huh, I was wondering if she would do something.” Nami said as Gohan placed Usopp’s bag down.

“You knew?” Gohan asked, as a blushing Kaya eventually released Usopp who had a big goofy grin on his face.

“Yeah, it was obvious that they felt something for each other.” Nami said, before turning to look at Luffy, “The winds are in our favor, Luffy.”

“Right, let’s set sail!” Luffy shouted after Usopp had climbed aboard. They waved goodbye one last time before the wind picked up and carried them away.

--

“The ship is bigger than it looks.” Gohan said as they started exploring the ship.

The men’s quarters were right under the mast, it had 5 hammocks, a table, a large couch, a chest, laundry basket, and a place for them to do laundry by hand. The women’s quarters had four beds, stairs leading to a locked latch, some wardrobes, a few vanities, a laundry area, and an accordion wall meant for piracy.

They found a water drawing machine under the stairs leading to the upper deck, the machine was in the shape of a bike, which also served as a means of providing electricity for the ship. The second cannon deck was also the anchor room, which had a few lifesavers, oars, ropes, cleaning supplies, and a place to hang weapons.

The lounge, which was also the meeting room/kitchen and where the sheep-shaped helm was, the kitchen was fully stocked including the fridge, a small storage area for rations, and a latch leading to a larger storage area. The larger storage also served as the first cannon deck, it’s also where the stairs in the women’s quarters led to, there was also a medium sized bathroom, and a large chest for them to store any treasure.

The last stop was the Captain’s quarters, which was obviously Kaya’s parents’ room, it had a king-size bed, a desk, wardrobe, bookcase filled with books, and its own bathroom. “It was nice of Kaya to fill the bookcase.” Gohan said walking over to it and glancing at some of the titles. “I hope you don’t mind me grabbing a few.”

“…Why would I mind.” Luffy said, tilting his head to the side.

“Well, it’s your room, it’s rude to just come in and grab them.” Gohan said, turning to look at Luffy.

“…Nope I don’t like it.” Luffy said, shaking his head, after looking around.

“Wh…Why not?” Gohan asked, confused.

“I just don’t…someone else can have it.” Luffy said, before walking out of the room.

“A Captain that doesn’t sleep in his own quarters…That’s different.” Gohan said looking at the others.

“Well, no one ever accused Luffy of doing things normally. I don’t want it either.” Zoro said, following him.

“Well since Luffy and Zoro don’t want it I guess, I’ll take it.” Usopp said smiling.

“Nope, I’m taking it!” Nami said, shaking her head.

“Wait! Why should you take it!?” Usopp asked, looking at her.

“I should get the room because I’m a woman and I need my own bathroom. I can’t share one with all the men.” Nami said glaring at Usopp.

“No, I should have the room because Kaya’s, my girlfriend!” Usopp said shaking his head.

Gohan decided to walk out of the room and leave them to decide on their own, he made his way to the men’s quarters where Zoro and Luffy were, “Where’s Usopp?” Zoro asked.

“Arguing with Nami on who gets the room.” Gohan said, shrugging his shoulders.

“I thought you wanted it?” Luffy asked, swinging from one of the hammocks.

“No, I don’t really care where I sleep, I can sleep almost anywhere, I just wanted to borrow some of the books.” Gohan said picking a hammock for himself.

“Oh, well hopefully they don’t take too long.” Luffy said, “I want to celebrate getting a ship and Usopp joining the crew.”

Usopp came to the men’s quarters a few minutes later saying that he’ll sleep with the rest of them so they can bond better, Gohan, Luffy, and Zoro decided to ignore the bump on the back of his head. Once everyone had finished settling in, they went back out on the deck, and celebrated their new ship and crewmate.

--

(Nami)

Nami tried concentrating on plotting their next course, but she kept getting distracted by Gohan who was currently doing one handed handstand push-ups, on the deck of the ship, “What motivates you?” Nami whispered, watching as Gohan did a somersault to land on his feet where he then he took out the Pole he carried on his back and start doing exercises with it.

“He’s been through a lot.” Zoro said, startling her.

“W-what?” Nami asked surprised thinking that he had been asleep.

“Gohan, has been through a lot.” Zoro said sitting up.

“How can you tell?” Nami asked, watching as.

“You’re not the only one who has nightmares…” Zoro said glancing at her, before looking back at Gohan, “…he’s lived a harsh life, and while I don’t know exactly what he’s been through I do know that whatever it was is what pushes him to become stronger. He doesn’t just have physical scars he also has some mental ones and based on some of the things he mumbles in his sleep I’m not surprised.” Zoro added, staring at Gohan a little longer before closing his eyes.

“…Maybe I should ask him to teach me how to fight, since we both use staff like weapons.” Nami thought as she watched him do things that she would have never thought of.

After a while Luffy shouted, “It’s Done!” drawing everyone’s attention to him.

She looked up to see Luffy holding a misshaped Jolly Roger with what she guessed was a straw hat on it, “Our Pirate flag is done.” Luffy said happily, showing it off. “Now that we have enough people and a ship, I thought it was time for us to have our own flag.”

“…Luffy is that really going to be our mark?” Zoro asked with a yawn, “…our flag should strike fear into our enemies’ hearts.”

“…Luffy, I don’t think painting is one of your skills.” Gohan added, scratching his cheek.

“Huh, you really think so?” Luffy asked, tilting his head to look at the Jolly Roger.

“Yeah, sorry.” Gohan said.

“Hey, you guys should have told me I’m a great artist.” Usopp said, shaking his head, “Here let me show you.” he said as he started painting, “Perfect!” he said holding a Jolly Roger but in his likeness.

“You complete changed it.” Luffy and Zoro said punching Usopp in the back of the head.

“Fine, fine.” Usopp said before painting a better Jolly Roger with a straw hat.

“Good job Usopp paint one on the sails as well.” Luffy said, pointing up.

“Fine but, I’ll need some help.” Usopp said.

Once Usopp finished painting it was time for lunch which she cooked with some surprising help from Gohan who told her he had to learn or starve, something she decided not to dig into remembering what Zoro had told her. “We need to find a proper cook, if we want to head into The Grand Line.” she said once they finished eating, “We know some of the basics but that won’t be enough we need a true professional, especially with how much you two eat.”

Nami couldn’t believe how much food Gohan and Luffy were able to put away, Gohan at least knew how to restrain himself from eating too much but Luffy he was a nightmare, “Nami’s right, I mean I can find us some food in the ocean and use one of the cookbooks Kaya left us but that won’t work once we get into the Grand Line.” Gohan said.

“Why not?” Luffy asked.

“The books are only for things we can find here in the East Blue, once we go to the Grand Line, they won’t be much help.” Gohan explained.

“Oh, ok.” Luffy said, crossing his arms and nodding.

“But where can we find a cook who will want to join a band of pirates?” Zoro asked.

“Yeah, that could be a deal breaker for some.” Usopp said.

“Don’t worry guys we’ll figure it out later.” Luffy said, shrugging.

They agreed with him, and a few days later, they dropped anchor at a nearby area for target practice with the cannons, Luffy and Usopp were setting things up while Zoro was taking a nap. Nami pulled out a lounge chair and started reading a magazine, “Nami.” Gohan called out to her.

“Yeah?” She asked not looking up.

“I’m going for a dive and to see if I can find something for us to eat for later.” Gohan said.

“Are you sure…” Nami started asking only to stop when she looked up, her eyes drawn to Gohan’s muscular legs as her eyes traveled up slowly as she enjoyed the sight, only to let out a soft gasp of shock.

Now Nami knew that Gohan was good looking, she wasn’t going to deny it, and she also wasn’t going to deny that she liked that he was in great shape, so seeing him in swimming trunks wasn’t what shocked her. No, what caused her pause were the numerous scars dotted across his body. Seeing them shocked her, Zoro had told her that he had scars, but she wasn’t expecting that many.

“Yeah, I’m sure.” He said stretching, “Make sure not to leave without me.” He added with a laugh diving into the water before she could say anything.

“…What have you been through.” Nami whispered to herself wondering what he had been through to gain those scars.

“What was that?” Usopp and Luffy asked, turning around when they heard the splash.

“…Gohan went for a swim, and to see if he could get some dinner for us.” Nami answered.

“Awesome!” Luffy said, happily. “I hope he catches something big.”

“Is that safe?” Usopp asked.

“Yeah, you saw how strong Gohan is.” Luffy said nodding, “Now, try and hit that rock over there.” Luffy said pointing to a large rock in the distance.

“Just leave it to me.” Usopp said smiling as he lined up the shot and fired, hitting the rock dead on.

“Woah! That was awesome!” Luffy cried out.

“What was that!?” Zoro asked, sitting up quickly katana in hand.

“Target practice.” Luffy said, pointing at the cannon.

“Huh.” Zoro said, shaking his head before looking around, “…where’s Gohan?”

“He went for a swim and to see if he could find something to eat for us.” Nami answered, standing up and walking towards where Gohan had dived in, she watched the surface for a while eventually getting a little worried since he hadn’t surfaced yet. She felt a little calm when she noticed some bubbles on the surface of the water, indicating that he was coming back up.

--

(Gohan)

When Gohan had decided to take a dive to look for something to eat, he wasn’t expecting to find a sunken ship at the bottom, when he saw it, he decided to explore it for kicks, he thought maybe he could find something interesting. The ship was similar in size as The Going Merry, it had a few large holes on the side, and at the bottom of it which he used to enter it, “I hope I find something.” He thought as entered.

Gohan didn’t find anything worthwhile while he explored, the bottom just a few skeletal remains, “Looks like not everyone made it off. Things were probably swept away over time. I’ll check the Captain’s Room, before heading back.”

Gohan opened the door, heading in, he was surprised that the room was mostly intact, finding a skeleton in the corner of the room with a pistol in one hand, and the other on top of a medium sized chest, “Looks like the Captain went down with his ship. Sorry to disturb your rest…I hope there’s something good in here.” He thought, picking up the chest and feeling that it had a little weight to it. “Looks like there’s something in here, that’s great.”

He started making his way back out with the chest in hand, wondering what could be inside the chest, but as he got closer to the ship, he stopped when suddenly sensed two life forces nearby, one of which felt weak. He tried to get a better sense of where they were and to see where they were heading he found them after a short while heading toward their ship, making him quickly make his way up to warn the others.

Gohan quickly broke the surface, flying into the air and surprising Nami, “Ahh!”

“Sorry, about that.” Gohan said, landing behind her.

“You scared me! you…” Nami shouted turning around only to stop short when she saw the chest in his hands, “Where did you find that?”

“There’s a sunken ship down there, I decided to explore it and found this in the Captain’s room, but first...” Gohan said, turning around towards where he felt the two life forces getting closer, “We’re about to have company.”

“Huh, where!?” Luffy asked as he walked over, hearing Nami scream.

“There, two people…although only one of them feel healthy.” Gohan said pointing at the boat.

“I’m gonna slaughter you damn pirates!” a man shouted, as the boat got closer.

“…I think I recognize that voice.” Zoro said, walking over to them.

“It’s a man wearing sunglasses, with a tattoo on his left cheek that says… Sea, and he’s waving a sword at us. I don’t think they’re friendly.” Usopp said, looking through some binoculars.

“…You said he has a tattoo that says Sea?” Zoro asked.

“Yeah, why?” Usopp asked, turning towards him.

“I think I know that person.” Zoro said, grabbing the binoculars. “Yeah, I do that’s Johnny.”

“So, what do you want to do?” Gohan asked him.

“We’ll see what he wants.” Zoro said, “…although I wonder where Yosaku is at.”

“Who are they?” Nami asked.

“They’re some friends I used to bounty hunt with.” Zoro said, cupping his hands around his mouth as the boat got closer, “Johnny where’s Yosaku?”

“Z-Zoro brother is that you!?” Johnny shouted back, putting his sword down.

“Yeah, where’s Yosaku?” Zoro asked again once Johnny’s boat had pulled up alongside them.

“H-he’s sick brother!” Johnny said, pointing to a door on the boat.

“What’s wrong with him?” Zoro asked, getting serious.

“His skin suddenly turned pale, he keeps passing out, his teeth have started falling out, and his old wounds have started opening again. I don’t know what to do, I decided to let him rest a bit on a rock, but then this ship fired a cannonball at us.” Johnny said, tears in his eyes.

“We’re truly sorry!” Luffy and Usopp said quickly bowing their heads.

“I-it’s fine, what happened, happened.” Johnny said shaking his head.

“Zoro help bring him aboard.” Gohan ordered, “Luffy, Usopp go to the kitchen, get some limes, and squeeze out the juice, into a mug and bring it here.” He said, turning to look at them.

“Right!” they said rushing off to the kitchen.

“Y-you know what’s wrong with him?” Johnny asked hope in his voice.

“He’s got scurvy.” Nami answered as Zoro helped Johnny. “It’s a condition that is caused by a severe lack of vitamin C. If we’re not too late, he should recover in a few days.”

“What do we do now, Gohan?” Luffy asked, carrying a mug.

“Give him the lime juice to drink.” Gohan said, pointing at Yosaku, a man with a black shirt, green coat, red headgear, and plaid yellow shorts.

“How does this happen?” Usopp asked, as they sat him up to give him the juice.

“It’s caused by lack of nutrients that is usually found in fruits and vegetables.” Gohan explained, putting on a shirt.

“Wow, that’s amazing it’s like you’re a doctor!” Luffy said, staring at him.

“I knew that he was special the first time I met him.” Usopp said nodding his head.

“It’s basic knowledge, if you’re going to sail you should at least know this much!” Nami yelled at Luffy and Usopp.

“…Alright, I’m all healed up.” Yosaku shouted, jumping to his feet, after a little while.

“…No, you’re not, you still need to rest some more.” Gohan said, shaking his head at Yosaku who started dancing around with Johnny, “You need to give your body sometime to recover.”

“Sorry for the late introductions. My name is Johnny.” Johnny said coming to a stop and standing next to Yosaku.

“And I’m Yosaku, we used to bounty hunt with Zoro.” Yosaku said, next to Johnny both posing. “Thank, you for helping me.” He said, bowing his head.

“Although, I’m surprised that you became a pirate Zoro.” Johnny said looking at him.

“Yeah, I would have never…” Yosaku started saying before he fell over, blood coming out of his mouth.

“Listen to Gohan and rest!” Zoro yelled at Yosaku.

Johnny took Yosaku to rest inside with some help from Zoro and then came back outside, “This is why we need a cook.” Nami said, as they sat down on the stairs.

“Yeah, we can cook a little but, if you want to head to the Grand Line, you’ll need a professional.” Gohan said looking at Luffy.

“…That’s it I’ve decided that we’re going to look for a sea cook.” Luffy said grinning, “It’s important to eat good.”

“Luffy Bro, if you’re looking for a cook then I know the perfect place. The restaurant on the sea, The Baratie, we should be 2-3 days away from it. However, we need to be careful since it’s near the Grand Line we could run into some trouble.” Johnny said looking at them. “It’s even rumored that the Hawk-eyed man you’ve been looking for stops by on occasion.” He added looking at Zoro.

Zoro, looked excited when he heard that, “…that’s great.” He said grinning.

“If it’s ok, with you guys I can lead the way.” Johnny said to Luffy.

“Yeah, let’s go!” Luffy said, arm raised in the air. “Nami let’s set sail!”

“Yeah, yeah.” Nami said shaking her head, “Tie your ship to the back of ours, so we can tow it.” She said looking at Johnny.

“You got it Nami Sis!” Johnny shouted.

“Don’t call my that.” Nami said shaking her head as they raised the anchor, “Gohan, let’s check out that chest you found.”

“Yeah, sure, let’s open it up.” Gohan said, walking towards where he had set it down.

The chest had a few gold pieces in it, which made Nami so happy that she ended up hugging him tightly, and thanking him repeatedly, she told him that with that gold she was only about 10 million berries short of her goal.